Zhou Ming

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Zhou Ming (周明)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Jiangnan Martial Arts Academy, Regular Class; Lin Fan's mission team
Occupation/Role	Information broker; student; intelligence analyst
First Appearance	25

Background / History

Zhou Ming first approaches Lin Fan in the hospital after the enrollment assessment, introducing himself as an academy information broker. He warns Lin Fan that the Wang Family remains influential despite being investigated, and that Wang Hao has entered the Genius Class. He also provides a new-student guide, while making clear that future consultations carry a fee 25.

He becomes Lin Fan's roommate in Building 7, Room 203, alongside Chen Dahu and other Regular Class students. He continues to offer warnings about the Wang Family's collateral relatives and their influence within the academy 27.

Zhou Ming joins Lin Fan, Chen Dahu, and Zhao Tie Zhu for practical training missions. Although initially lacking practical combat experience, he supplies route information, evaluates mission rewards, and contributes theoretical knowledge on medicinal herbs and Demonic Beast weaknesses 29 31.

Appearance

A thin, bespectacled young man with a habitual professional smile. He commonly adjusts or pushes up his glasses while speaking 25 27.

• Often carries notebooks, maps, and writing tools for gathering and organizing intelligence 31.
• Later fights with a pair of short blades 46.
• Appears pale and moves carefully after suffering rib injuries during the Crimson Flame Tiger operation 48.

Personality

Zhou Ming is commercially minded, smooth-talking, and openly treats information as a commodity. He charges consultation fees, negotiates prices, and promotes the value of his intelligence even among roommates and allies 25 27 36.

Despite his opportunism, he is cautious and rational in dangerous situations. He repeatedly stresses the risks of wilderness missions, robbery, and hidden threats rather than relying on optimism 30 32.

His conduct during the Shadow Society investigation reveals a strong sense of responsibility. While injured and unable to join the expedition, he spends the night compiling intelligence, a terrain map, threat analysis, and possible infiltration routes for the team 49.

Abilities & Skills

Intelligence Gathering and Analysis

Zhou Ming gathers, cross-references, and interprets information from academy records, black-market contacts, field observations, and historical reports.

• Identifies the danger of return-route ambushes after missions and recognizes the signs of wilderness robbers 32.
• Provides Lin Fan with Liu Mang's cultivation level, martial skill, affiliation with Zhang Kuanghu, and intention to cripple him during the monthly competition 36.
• Detects a pattern behind anomalous Demonic Beast materials and obtains an anomalous Rock Armored Boar scale for analysis 48.
• Connects Demonic Beast anomalies, energy pulses, black-robed sightings, and the full-moon cycle to Cannibal Valley and the Shadow Society's ritual 49.

Cartography and Field Preparation

Zhou Ming prepares detailed operational material for expeditions.

• Uses route notes to guide the team toward Gravel Slope during their Steel Tooth Rat mission 31.
• Acquires a black-market map of Flame Valley that identifies the Crimson Flame Tiger's likely range near Lava Lake 47.
• Creates a detailed map of the Shadowy Mountain Range, including Demonic Beast lairs, Spatial Rift zones, dangerous plants, and three routes into Cannibal Valley with risk assessments and supply recommendations 49.

Practical Combat

Zhou Ming initially admits that his practical combat ability is limited, but he is willing to undertake missions to gain experience 29 30.

• Fights beside Lin Fan's team during the Rock Armored Boar battle, using paired short blades to sever the beasts' tendons and joints 46.
• Participates in the Crimson Flame Tiger operation, though he later suffers rib injuries severe enough to prevent him from joining the subsequent expedition 48.
• Relies more heavily on planning, reconnaissance, and analysis than direct combat 29 49.

Equipment / Items

• Notebooks and writing tools — used to record routes, mission data, and Demonic Beast information 31.
• Paired short blades — used against Rock Armored Boars 46.
• Hemostatic Powder — supplied to treat Lin Fan's wilderness injuries 28.
• Anomalous Rock Armored Boar Scale — acquired from black-market dealer Old Ghost; its unusual energy pattern helps identify mental interference affecting Demonic Beasts 48.
• Cannibal Valley intelligence dossier and Shadowy Mountain Range map — compiled for Lin Fan's team while Zhou Ming recovers from his injuries 49.

Relationships

• Lin Fan — roommate, client, and teammate. Zhou Ming warns him about the Wang Family, sells him competition intelligence, and later provides critical intelligence for the Shadow Society investigation 25 36 49.
• Chen Dahu — roommate and mission teammate. Chen Dahu considers Zhou Ming overly focused on money, but the two work together under Lin Fan's leadership 27 29.
• Zhao Tie Zhu — teammate during the Steel Tooth Rat and Glow Grass missions 29 30.
• Sun Wanting — teammate in later hunting and investigation operations. She delivers Zhou Ming's Cannibal Valley dossier and map to the expedition team 46 49.
• Bai Susu — teammate and medic. She supports Zhou Ming after his rib injuries and accompanies the team using his intelligence 46 48 49.
• Wang Hao and the Wang Family — Zhou Ming identifies them as an ongoing threat to Lin Fan, despite the family's investigation after the entrance assessment 25 27.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Academy Enrollment and Roommates

Zhou Ming meets Lin Fan after the assessment, supplies an academy guide, and warns him of Wang Hao's continued presence in the Genius Class. He later becomes Lin Fan's roommate in the Regular Class dormitory 25 27.

Early Mission Team

He joins Lin Fan's team for academy missions, serving as its route planner, source of wilderness knowledge, and reward evaluator. His information supports the group's Steel Tooth Rat operation and return journey 29 31 32.

Monthly Competition Intelligence

Before Lin Fan's match with Liu Mang, Zhou Ming sells him detailed intelligence about Liu Mang's early second-tier cultivation, Mountain Breaking Saber, and connection to Zhang Kuanghu. He also reveals the reward offered for crippling Lin Fan 36.

Hunting Squad Operations

Zhou Ming assists Lin Fan, Chen Dahu, Sun Wanting, and Bai Susu during the Rock Armored Boar hunt and the Crimson Flame Tiger operation. He fights with short blades during the boar battle but sustains rib injuries during the later mission 46 48.

Shadow Society Investigation

While recovering, Zhou Ming consolidates three months of intelligence and recognizes that anomalous Demonic Beast activity converges on Cannibal Valley. His dossier identifies the likely full-moon deadline, the Shadow Society's possible ritual, the valley's hazards, and infiltration routes, enabling the team to act before the ritual reaches its critical point 48 49.

Trivia

• Zhou Ming shares his name with both an academy logistics employee and an examiner implicated in accepting Wang Family bribes; the logistics employee explicitly states that he is not the examiner 25.
• He describes information brokering as a business with “fair prices for young and old alike” 25.
• Although Chen Dahu calls him someone who “only thinks about money,” Zhou Ming's information work becomes indispensable to the team's operations 27 49.